Kenneth > Recent Status Updates

Set in Edinburgh during lockdown Karen Pirie is desperate and her crew are desperate to find something other than daytime TV to occupy their minds, When a librarien finds sometrhing in a dead author's archive.

As an occasional writer of Crime Novels I thought I ought to read this and I can say that it's worth the read. The author not only talks about techniques but also details their origins and cases where their use was first accepted.

Peter May at his island best. Those who've read the Lewis Trilogy and his other stories set on Hebridean Ilands will love this. Although it is set on a small Canadian Island, the sleepless investigating officer is haunted by his great Grandfather's diaries.

I'm a bit put off by the cliche-ridden opening. An unarmed ex-ranger takes out three assailants on a train before returning home only to be asked to do a favour for his handler. The daughter of the handler's old army pal has been murdered. Our hero, Devine, is sent to investigate.. It just seemed such a hackneyed plot that I'm not hopeful. Time will tell.

First impressions are that the first chapter is completely unnecessary. Having said that from chapter 2 you get into the story and the author sets the scene within the gold mine very well. Sadly I've already been niggled by what is, for me, a shocking error. "Popeye dashed into the cabin and smacked his hand down on the button that earthed the magnetos on the big diesel engines" Diesel engines don't have magnetos.

First published in 1914 and what hits you first when reading this book is how little has changed in a hundred years. Although we now have a welfare state the attitudes of the people in tressels book still persist today.

f you're looking for a rollicking nautical adventure, this isn't it. I've got this far and have been treated to a couple of Whale hunts but in terms of adventure that's about it. I read somewhere that Melville had already written the book on whaling before he heard the tale of a whale that fought back. He then incor[porated the tale of Moby Dick into his existing book. It shows.

By golly it's hard going. I don't think this book would ever be published today. Certainly not unless an editor took an axe to much of it. So far I've read a chapter devoted to the description of an Inn. A chapter devoted to a preachers sermon. A chapter that was a eulogy for the whaling industry. Another to describe first mate Starbuck. and we still haven't set sail.

If you are looking for descriptive writing, this is it chapters and chapters of it. Melville uses a complete chapter to describe the Inn where he spends two nights. Another is devoted to the sermon in the seamen's chapel. it really is hard going.

Anyone looking for a tense prime suspect like detective novel will be disappointed. This is a tale of two brothers and the event that shaped their lives. As I read I keep seeing parallels with Willie Russell;s Blood Brothers

Only just got started. The first 7% of the book is taken up by the introduction and foreword

I was really impressed with the first novel "The Dry" Although this one doesn't get off to the same hard-hitting start it certainly moves along at a good pace.

Certainly off to a good start. The Author has created some great characters and has introduced me to the confusion and contradictions of soviet Russia.

I read Gone Girl and loved it. This book is very different in that it's a whodunnit but that's only part of the story. The characters and the family relationships are what makes a good story great and so far this is a great story.

Nearly halfway through and still feels like the chronicle of someone going crazy. No crime so far, No suspense or threat. As a thriller it's not working

Well, so far I'm wondering what all the other people who reviewed this book were reading? Being from Bloodhound books I was expecting a crime thriller, but so far no crime. What I appear to be reading is a story of a woman going quietly crazy. I'm finding it overly descriptive, definitely tell not show. Not sure I can finish it.

I never saw the film but I know it starred Sean Connery. Now I'm reading LeCarre's Excellent Character descriptions and I just don't see Connery as Barley Blair.

This is a Bloodhound book and frankly I expected better. I'm reading the eBook but I find it is formatted for print with irritating blank pages at the end of every chapter. The male characters are stereo types from the old school DCI who breaks the rules to the DI who "doesn't want to get hurt again. can I really stick it out?

I remember the BBC TV series and the image of Iain Richardson as FU is etched on my brain. All I can say is that the series seems to be very close to this book. I'm told that changes in the two later books.

This is the first Sci-Fi novel I've read since leaving school. SCi-Fi is not my bag, but hey it's a classic right? It is very good. I've managed to ignore the idea of hover cars in 1999. and am now left with what looks like a conspiracy thriller. It is definitely drawing me in.

Still absorbed in both stories that are being told. I keep getting echoes of The Blackhouse by Peter May. It is a similar story. Man returns to a community which he left under a cloud and finds himself caught up in an investigation which is likely to stir up the events of the past which caused him to leave. The communities are very different and here is where you get to appreciate the skill of the writer.